tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post5324732413989219395..comments2015-03-31T14:02:49.683-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Broom made of twigs / WED 2-22-12 / TV courtroom drama 1986-94 / Juana de la Cruz Mexican poet/nun / Biblical fellow who was distressed / Occupation of idle man distraction of warrior NapoleonRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger146125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1812316875828047602012-03-30T23:18:43.055-04:002012-03-30T23:18:43.055-04:00@Lola505 - &quot;...where&#39;s the tactile fun in...@Lola505 - &quot;...where&#39;s the tactile fun in that?&quot; Exactly!Dirigonzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86019974412123595422012-03-29T18:05:15.758-04:002012-03-29T18:05:15.758-04:00Interesting to see everyones&#39; opinions on pen ...Interesting to see everyones&#39; opinions on pen v. pencil, erasures etc. I&#39;m a new poster but had wondered how others felt about the subject, so I&#39;ll share too. My puzzle solving is a near ritual: Morning paper, but solving occurs at 4 pm. Neatly folded puzzle page, my lap desk, black gel pen and my Bic Wite-Out EZcorrect (which perfectly fits a weekday puzzle square) and I&#39;m good to go. I absolutely enjoy solving on paper compared to the computer -- where&#39;s the tactile fun in that? I&#39;m always prouder of puzzles with fewer corrections, but I agree with those who feel corrections are part of the process of solving. I can foresee the end of newspapers (one of our city&#39;s folded last year and the remaining one is struggling), and I will mourn the day it&#39;s gone.Lola505http://www.blogger.com/profile/09249427833942985450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66528512708212097912012-03-29T13:06:02.128-04:002012-03-29T13:06:02.128-04:00@Red V - slipshod &gt; slapshod &gt; slapshot &gt;...@Red V - slipshod &gt; slapshod &gt; slapshot &gt; slapstick &gt; slipstick - I&#39;m pretty sure if I take it any further it&#39;s going to turn dirty.Dirigonzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-51042335558595408472012-03-28T22:05:38.249-04:002012-03-28T22:05:38.249-04:00@Spacecraft. I&#39;m quite sure not under a rock;...@Spacecraft. I&#39;m quite sure not under a rock; perhaps the lack of an accent threw you.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Dor%C3%A9" rel="nofollow">Gustave Dore</a> (I don&#39;t know how to put the accent in.)Red Valerianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04638265039015470938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29682447588723008792012-03-28T22:01:24.232-04:002012-03-28T22:01:24.232-04:00Good lord, look at the number of comments.
@Dirig...Good lord, look at the number of comments.<br /><br />@Dirigonzo--that&#39;s hilarious! Myself, I&#39;ll have to clip out an I to replace the a in SLaPSHOD-clearly wrong, but hummed around in my brain as an amalgam of slipshod and slapshot,<br /><br />@LMS--you&#39;re scaring me ;-)<br /><br />one captcha: hthis. Don&#39;t know what it means, but it can&#39;t be good...Red Valerianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04638265039015470938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67482990674559211292012-03-28T19:34:26.214-04:002012-03-28T19:34:26.214-04:00I think Dirigonzo&#39;s bragging about his solving...I think Dirigonzo&#39;s bragging about his solving method. Good thing Evil D won&#39;t see it.<br /><br />That said, Rex was right that this puzzle was crap. I finished, but believe that this author should be legally barred from ever publishing a puzzle again. Let her construct all she wants, but she should keep it to herself. <br /><br />Finally, surprised that the word &quot;lists&quot; was unknown to so many commenters. One would think that this board&#39;s demographic would indicate a healthy intake of King Arthur tales back in the day and thus at least a rudimentary knowledge of jousting basics.DJ Stonenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15013114890866045562012-03-28T15:50:36.542-04:002012-03-28T15:50:36.542-04:00I fill in the grid by cutting letters out of the r...I fill in the grid by cutting letters out of the rest of the paper and pasting them on the puzzle - but I have a lot of free time on my hands. Does anybody really care? I sure hope not. Now I have to go cut the m out of square 18 and find a B to replace it.Dirigonzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4920227801616893582012-03-28T12:18:31.095-04:002012-03-28T12:18:31.095-04:00Interesting that the clunkers bring out the most c...Interesting that the clunkers bring out the most comments. I joust happened to know BESOM from an old issue of Dell variety puzzles in which they had a series of old saws in flowery language for the solver to recognize the original, and so &quot;A new broom sweeps clean&quot; became &quot;A BESOM of recent manufacture...&quot; etc. Had to look it up then, but it stuck.<br /><br />Like GUCK. Okay, I &quot;get&quot; the other three, but KNIGHTSGOING? Is that really supposed to be NICE GOING? Wow, what a stretch. My big REPINE, though, is one I didn&#39;t see amongst all the bloggery. Two SUPER-obscure names right next to each other? DORE not only did ETCHings, but he (she?) is FAMOUS for it? Oh yeah. Famous. MY God, where have I been living, under a rock? And then there&#39;s INES. Well, of course--a household name. Hardly a day goes by...OK, OK, I&#39;ll stop with the sarcasm. I mean, the crosses filled them in, but still. The whole thing was 22d.Spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15942441792911552562012-03-28T11:52:47.144-04:002012-03-28T11:52:47.144-04:00Yes, yes, yes, Mr.Evil Doug. I&#39;m on your side ...Yes, yes, yes, Mr.Evil Doug. I&#39;m on your side 100%. It tickles me to no end when you throw a dart in the balloonheads. I&#39;m not as picky as alot of the Michaelites and enjoy almost each and every puzzle. Today&#39;s puz was easy with no complaints from me. Not too impressed with the video. I&#39;d like to see one done in real time.Simpy Ignoble Ronnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21525385274676842732012-02-23T12:27:04.129-05:002012-02-23T12:27:04.129-05:00Joust owfullJoust owfullthe redanmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08287781952915413013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91936752883578155522012-02-22T23:35:53.753-05:002012-02-22T23:35:53.753-05:00I would like to brag that I dislike fish as compar...I would like to brag that I dislike fish as compared to mammals. There, I&#39;ve said it, I&#39;m a fish bigot. I hate nature shows bloody of tooth and fang when the prey are mammals -- I don&#39;t just hate them, I can&#39;t watch them. I just watched Nature watching marine mammals eat tons of fish, no problem - eat all the sardines you want.Flippernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-26662275384109470312012-02-22T23:27:30.576-05:002012-02-22T23:27:30.576-05:00That&#39;s Boy foot bear with teak of Chan. Sigh....That&#39;s Boy foot bear with teak of Chan. Sigh. I think I&#39;ll have a double stuff Milano.Sparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149915526159432838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-37797505534531091412012-02-22T22:32:30.731-05:002012-02-22T22:32:30.731-05:00I would like to brag about my fingernails in that ...I would like to brag about my fingernails in that video. That is as good as they have ever looked. <br /><br />rpRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-53642124618290489422012-02-22T22:30:54.244-05:002012-02-22T22:30:54.244-05:00This week&#39;s relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week&#39;s relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation. In a nutshell, the higher the ratio, the higher this week&#39;s median solve time is relative to the average for the corresponding day of the week.<br /><br />All solvers (this week&#39;s median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)<br /><br />Mon 7:34, 6:49, 1.11, 91%, Challenging<br />Tue 8:35, 8:52, 0.97, 46%, Medium<br />Wed 13:03, 11:50, 1.10, 77%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 4:05, 3:40, 1.12, 91%, Challenging<br />Tue 4:32, 4:35, 0.99, 52%, Medium<br />Wed 6:42, 5:52, 1.14, 88%, Challengingsanfranman59http://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58373049891074456642012-02-22T22:25:03.478-05:002012-02-22T22:25:03.478-05:00I&#39;m usually pretty forgiving when judging the ...I&#39;m usually pretty forgiving when judging the quality of a puzzle, however today had to be one my most hated puzzles in memory...I got every last letter correct, but shook my head in the end. I don&#39;t mind puns, but these are the worst. I was glad to others agree.nebraska dougnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-70593673855224269962012-02-22T21:52:17.190-05:002012-02-22T21:52:17.190-05:00Tortured gunk.
Slapshod. No our in Anno Domini. Re...Tortured gunk.<br />Slapshod. No our in Anno Domini. Really weird clues, like unwelcome growth. Too bad about the - in dis-tressed. <br /><br />I love nice pens and fountain pens. I solve in Pentel 0.9 Twist-Erase, or online.machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67269299137641795002012-02-22T21:34:31.946-05:002012-02-22T21:34:31.946-05:00Can&#39;t let the day pass without celebrating the...Can&#39;t let the day pass without celebrating the &quot;Miracle on Ice&quot;. It was 32 years ago today, when the US Olympic hockey team defeated the heavily favored Russian team, 4 to 3.<br /><br />Sports Illustrated named it the &quot;Greatest Sports Moment of the 20th Century&quot; and deservedly so.jackjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02699305265544975575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55989879724846390752012-02-22T20:50:00.015-05:002012-02-22T20:50:00.015-05:00@Joe the Juggler...that was good!!! I&#39;m from S...@Joe the Juggler...that was good!!! I&#39;m from St. Louis...I remember the Globe and I now read the Post dispatch on line since I have moved away.chefbeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15195945085405126511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13632082699075163232012-02-22T20:35:59.153-05:002012-02-22T20:35:59.153-05:00Oooh, brilliant observation, Ulrich! I noticed he...Oooh, brilliant observation, Ulrich! I noticed he was forming his Es that way, too; I took brief note of it simply because I dislike the way that sort of written E looks. Now I&#39;m thinking solvers at the ACPT who employ it probably never win the &quot;neatest grid&quot; (or whatever it&#39;s called) prize, and that perhaps the person who does win that prize never takes the big one.Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16675331024091722316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41211410748246804232012-02-22T20:26:32.770-05:002012-02-22T20:26:32.770-05:00This day in puzzledom keeps on giving: I did a sti...This day in puzzledom keeps on giving: I did a stint recently as a scorer and noticed that two of the really fast solvers did their Es exactly like Rex does, in one wiggly stroke. After seeing Rex do it, too, I venture the conjecture that it has to do with speed: If you do it this way instead of the way we less-talented mortals do it, i.e. in 4 (four--yikes!) separate strokes, you&#39;re able to shave several nanoseconds off of your time every time to write an E, which happens to be the most common letter in English, and you may be able to beat the other guy by seconds--now that&#39;s an occasion to brag!Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02086202853174403008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44211147888074075732012-02-22T20:04:34.438-05:002012-02-22T20:04:34.438-05:00I really want to disagree with Rex when he slams a...I really want to disagree with Rex when he slams a puzzle. But in this case I agree with him...<br /><br />I solve in pen. Not a statement. i just like pens better than pencils.michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-71651506135886710292012-02-22T19:55:18.481-05:002012-02-22T19:55:18.481-05:00Very late also, but I read every single post - I s...Very late also, but I read every single post - I solve on the computer, so I&#39;ll stay out of the pen/pencil discussion.<br /><br />@acme: great explanation<br /><br />@quilter1: LOL<br /><br />Too many others to mention.<br /><br />The comments today are too much...JenCThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18290169184354765840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-25043723119164368252012-02-22T19:41:50.236-05:002012-02-22T19:41:50.236-05:00My 4th post to thank Rex for changing the robot te...My 4th post to thank Rex for changing the robot test by eliminating the negative effect on one of the words. Much better....<br /><br />JFCAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-74361151467641893592012-02-22T19:33:11.446-05:002012-02-22T19:33:11.446-05:00Ugh. The only high point was when I had SNACK for ...Ugh. The only high point was when I had SNACK for SCARF and briefly thought there was a children&#39;s book called THE MOST HAPPY KOALA.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13792693456583309682012-02-22T19:12:59.743-05:002012-02-22T19:12:59.743-05:00I&#39;m very late to the party, but....
Thought p...I&#39;m very late to the party, but....<br /><br />Thought perhaps The Bard would chime in with this: Yet again, Shakespeare is the source of much x-word knowledge. Knew LIST because of Macbeth:<br />At the end of the soliloquy he says, &quot;Rather than so, come fate into the list, / And champion me to th&#39; utterance!&quot; (3.1.70-71). This is Macbeth&#39;s challenge to fate.<br /><br />We must always give WS his due, especially in the face of those who doubt he wrote the plays.Dorishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849352112455623315noreply@blogger.com